I apologize for the long wait and for the fact that this chapter is pretty short. We're nearing the end of the story and the next few might be more on the shorter side.

Part 10

Everything went well during the next few days. Harry and Draco spent all their time together, either taking long walks, cuddling in front of the television or having sex. Draco soon found out that Harry had in a matter of only a few days almost become a sex addict. He was very experimental and always open to trying out new positions. Draco loved it.

Harry was very interested in discovering the world; he read a lot, and wanted to know all about Magic. Draco let him practise some basic spells with Draco's wand, surprised at how well it worked for the younger man. Like he'd predicted, Harry was extremely talented and it usually only took him a few tries before he perfected the spells.

Everything had been calm and harmonic and nothing could've prepared Draco for what happened next.

They had just returned home from one of their walks and Harry had run upstairs to change into something more comfortable for their movie night. Draco smiled as he watched him run up the stairs enthusiastically and shook his head in amusement as he made his way into the kitchen to get them something to drink.

When he entered the kitchen however, he froze; not voluntarily but because someone had cast a binding spell on him. "Draco Malfoy," a deep, manly voice said. "You are hereby arrested for the abduction of Harry James Potter. You have the right to remain silent until you've talked to your lawyer."

Draco stared at the tall, black man standing before him, and recognized him instantly. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Head of the Auror Department. With him were two other Aurors, a tall red-headed, freckled one who Draco immediately knew to be a Weasley, and a shorter, sandy-haired one. The fifth man in the room was none other than Severus Snape.

This could not be good. Draco struggled but was unable to move. "I didn't abduct him!" he protested, and Weasley's hand tightened on his arm. Snape's lip curled into a sneer and Draco was silenced by the strength of the older man's glare.

Before any of them could reply, Harry came into the room and stared. "What?" he asked, his eyes widening and taking a step back.

"I did NOT kidnap him," Draco hissed again, eyes still locked with Snape's who now raised an eyebrow.

"Really," he said dryly. "Then how do you explain the fact that he's here with you in Scotland when he's supposed to be at St. Mungo's?"

"He came to me," Draco spat, trying to reassure Harry, who looked terrified at that moment because the other Auror was preventing him from leaving the room, with a calming look. "He wanted to get away from you nutcases who didn't let him live his life. He wanted to be with someone who actually cares about him!"

Snape took a few steps closer and looked down at Draco, narrowing his eyes dangerously. "And that gives you the right to take him away from where he belongs?" he asked, his lips a dangerous line. "You went too far, Malfoy. Now deal with the consequences."

He took a step back, then nodded at Kingsley, who waved his wand as he performed a silent spell, knocking Draco out, who was still struggling violently. Draco collapsed onto the floor, and the last thing he heard was Harry calling his name desperately.

*

Some time later, Draco woke up, his heart hammering from the force of the spell. He was disoriented for a moment and opened his eyes, looking around frantically. He was in a room without windows, tied to a chair. He noticed a door that was most certainly locked, and knew he had to be in some room at the Ministry.

Only now did he realize that he was not alone in the room; a young woman with bushy, brown hair and square glasses was sitting opposite him, fixing him with intelligent, brown eyes. She pulled out her wand, flicked it to expertly loosen the ropes that kept Draco tied to the chair, then she pushed a glass of water toward him, nodding her head to indicate him to drink.

Draco looked at her suspiciously but then his thirst won and he reached for the glass, downing the water in one go. He swallowed hard and looked around again. "Where am I?"

"Ministry of Magic," the young woman said in a voice that was soft and firm at the same time. "You were arrested for removing Harry Potter from the premises of St. Mungo's. My name is Hermione Granger and I am your lawyer."

Draco looked at her critically, then sighed and slumped back against his chair. "I didn't kidnap him," he said softly, searching her eyes to see if she believed him. She was silent and looked at him, obviously waiting for him to continue.

Draco sighed and propped put his arms on the table, resting his chin on his folded arms. "Are you familiar with Harry's case?" he asked softly, not even managing to keep his usual Malfoy mask intact. For some reason he knew he could trust this woman. He had to, if he wanted to escape Azkaban and convince the world that he was innocent.

Granger opened a file which Draco recognized to be Harry's. "I've read his file, yes," she said, looking up at him and pushing her black glasses up on her nose, looking at him intently. "Why don't you tell me your version of everything that happened?"

Draco scowled and sat back again. "It's not my version! It's the bloody truth. I wouldn't lie about something like this. I..." He trailed off and sighed, knowing that he would get nowhere if he didn't calm down and did what Granger asked of him.

He began to recount everything, from the day he'd first seen Harry till the day when he lost his temper and got fired. He told her how Harry showed up on his doorstep and what had happened in the meantime; what a huge progress he'd made with Harry and how Harry had completely come out of his shell, how he, Draco, had healed him.

"And then those fucking Aurors showed up and..." He trailed off and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration. "Is Harry okay?" he asked suddenly, looking up into her eyes. "Where is he? What have they done to him?"

Hermione closed Harry's file and took off her glasses to clean them. "He wouldn't let them take him back to the hospital, and he's currently residing with Remus Lupin and Sirius Black; I think you are familiar with them?" At Draco's nod and relieved sigh, she continued. "He hasn't spoken a word to anyone."

"Fuck!" Draco cursed, slamming his fist down onto the table and standing up. He brushed his hair out of his face and looked thoughtful as he paced the room, his mind entirely with Harry at that moment. "They screwed everything up. I made such a huge progress and now everything was in vain! He was talking." He turned to Hermione, pleading her with his eyes to believe him. "He talked to me all the time. He trusted me, he made his own decisions, he practised magic, he... He was amazing, Hermione."

He didn't know what made him use the lawyer's first name, but he was so desperate to convince her of the truth of his words, that he did no longer care. "I have to talk to him. He needs me!"

Hermione looked back down at the table and shook her head. "I'm sorry but that's not possible. You won't be able to see him before the trial in three days. I can assure you that he's well; Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin will take good care of him and-"

"Three days? Trial?" Draco asked, momentarily confused. "Are you serious? They're going to send me to Azkaban for this? I didn't do anything wrong! I did what was best for Harry- my patient and..."

He rubbed his eyes in frustration and sat back down, leaning forward and looking into her eyes. "Are you good? How many cases have you won, how many lost?"

"Mr. Malfoy," Hermione said firmly. "I have to ask you to calm down; panic will get you nowhere. I'm good at what I do; my success rate is high and I won't let them send you to Azkaban if I'm convinced that you're innocent."

She looked at him for another moment and gave him a small, toothy smile. "And I believe you."

Draco breathed out in relief and swore to himself that he would do anything it would take to avoid going to Azkaban and to get his Harry back.

*

"He's been sitting there like that for hours," Remus whispered as he sat down next to Sirius, a cup of tea in his hand. "I'm really worried about him, Sirius..."

"I am, too," Sirius murmured, turning to the other man and frowning. "You don't believe that Malfoy actually did help him, do you?"

"I don't know," Remus admitted, looking at Harry, who had been sitting at the window, staring out at the now darkening sky ever since they'd arrived at Grimmauld Place. "But why would he say that Harry had been talking if it wasn't the truth?"

"I don't know... To keep his arse out of Azkaban?" Sirius suggested, glancing back at Harry as well. He sighed and shook his head.

"He cares about Harry," Remus said softly. "Malfoy, I mean. Even if you don't want to admit that to yourself; he does care about him. Maybe even more than we ever did. I think... I have a feeling that Harry was happy when he was with Malfoy. And Sirius, James would've wanted his son to be happy, as would Lily. We need to make sure that Harry's happy. We owe it to them."

Sirius tore his eyes away from Harry to look at the other man, and finally, he sighed. "We should talk to Albus," he decided. "He'll know what to do."

Tbc...